Hidden Gems: Meet Sarahi Lesure

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarahi Lesure.

Hi Sarahi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Absolutely! Well, I’m a native of AZ. Born in Tucson and raised in Phoenix. I married my husband a little over five years ago and we have two amazing children. My mother was the biggest influence in motivating me to start a business as she has always worked for herself. But honestly, I didn’t really “try” to start my own business until last year.

My world in credit began when COVID essentially began. I worked in corporate America all my life, and like many, got laid off in February 2020. Around that time, I honestly was not thinking of credit as a business, I was seeking help for my own credit! A friend had started his business, he had seen I worked in sales and had marketed on social media so he decided to ask me to join his company while fixing my credit. I got certified as a Credit Repair Specialist. And I did that all the way to the end of the year. We parted ways and I decided to start my own business in credit repair. It had become my passion at that point and I had begun building a reputation for myself on Instagram and Facebook; Mostly Instagram. So, it made sense!

I named my Company CreditUP & Co with the help of my brother. Starting a business in anything, even if you understand or have plenty of experience in an industry, is hard. There’s a lot of hustle and little reward at the beginning. But the more you stay consistent the reward follows. I also decided to get my Mortgage Loan Officer License to service my local AZ clients both in credit and home buying as that is a large percentage of my clients’ goals! I love what I do!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not! It’s never easy starting a business. Everything is really trial and error to a degree, especially at the beginning. And you, as a business owner, have your name tied to it all, so everything falls on you! Learning to market on social media, understanding algorithms, creating websites, getting set up with the state and social security office, figuring out merchant services, content creation ideas, processes, pricing, etc. Most important is self-discipline to stay consistent with your work. It can be easy to get lazy and complacent. My brother Daniel has been my right hand in this business and together we handle different responsibilities, bounce ideas off each other, take care of our clients. The support of my husband as well has been amazing. Sometimes, as a business owner, you have a lot to do! So, he has taken the lead with the children at times when I need to focus on work and goals.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At CreditUP & Co we specialize in repairing, building and establishing credit. Repair- is about cleaning up a credit report. Removing items that negatively impact score like late payments, collections, charge-offs, repossessions, medical bills, bankruptcies, evictions, tax liens, etc. The accuracy of the data is challenged, and legally if the debtor, collection agency or whoever, cannot prove that debt is yours, the account must be removed from your credit report.

Establishing Credit – This is applicable to those who lack credit history. As in, they haven’t really used their credit and used cash purchase predominantly. This can be hurtful long term. So educating and guiding a person on how to establish credit is important.

Building Credit – this has a lot to do with education and that is the foundation of our services. If we don’t educate our clients how credit works, how it grows, how to maintain it, they will need help again in the future. So, it truly is about seeing where their starting point is and where it needs to be and build from there. Laws of average apply in the algorithm of the credit score. The more good on your credit reports the higher your score, the more bad, the lower the score.

What we do from the start is establish basic credit education and review the client’s credit report together via zoom. Most people never really look at their credit reports. And it’s important, as right off the bat, you can tell if there may be identity fraud! This also allows the client to confirm debt they recognize vs ones they don’t.

Honestly, Credit Repair has been tagged as a “scam” in the past. There are good and bad people in every industry. But Credit Repair is based on laws that protect consumers and their debt, and how it’s reporting, and how collection companies are pursuing the clients for their debt. There’s things that technically should not be on credit report, that is!

Technically, you can also fix your credit for free. There’s plenty of information on how to do it everywhere and videos on YouTube. So why do I sell my services? Well just like you can either make your own meal at home but sometimes decide to pick up take-out because you don’t want to cook, or don’t really know how to.

It’s convenient and of course, we are specialized. We know exactly what we are doing! And lastly, I enjoy the celebrations we have every month with numerous clients as their scores increase and jump to numbers some have never seen themselves! We change lives and it’s a beautiful experience for me being in this business. 😊

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I plan to have a larger team by 5-10 years. A few offices in the valley where people can see that we offer credit help services and can just walk in. The Credit Repair business has always been an online service and disrupting the industry where you can actually meet your credit specialist is foreign. So, that’s a goal! A huge focus will be offering educational seminars to the public on credit and online. I’m pumped!

Pricing:

• $279 to started on the Advanced Repair Program which covers repair, building and establishing credit. And it’s $89 a month until we reached their score goal.
• $149 to start and $48 a month for our Credit Advisor Program. This program is for those who already may have great credit. Client receive Quarterly reviews of their credit report and suggestions are made if need be to maintain and upkeep their scores.
• $599 for the bankruptcy removal program. This program deletes Bankruptcies from credit reports. Doesn’t delete legally. Just off the report.
• Tradelines are offered for clients starting at $499 and it can go up to about $2000 each. Depends on what the client needs.

Contact Info:

• Email: Sarahi@creditupco.com
• Website: Www.creditupco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahithespecialist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahiTheSpecialist/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahithespecialist

Image Credits
My family – Giamatti, Camila, and Julius. Daniel Field and me at an event for Hispanic Business Owners.